To celebrate ten female power players in Washington, D.C., as well as ELLE's third annual Power List (read it in the April issue), ELLE and Gucci hosted a private dinner last night at the home of His Excellency, the Ambassador of Italy, and Mrs. Claudio Bisogniero. In addition to the two leaders of the 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States initiative, guests included our editor in chief, Robbie Myers, Gucci America's president Christophe de Pous, and the honorees.

This year's influencers are Dr. Jill Biden; Mignon Clyburn, FCC commissioner; Michelle Freeman, real estate and sports mogul; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO, Voto Latino; Alyssa Mastromonaco, White House deputy chief of staff; Susan McCue, political strategist; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent; Susan Molinari, vice president of public policy and government relations, Google; and Jessica Yellin, CNN chief White House correspondent. You can see these established ladies in our behind-the-scenes video from the magazine shoot, below. In it, the women discuss how they got their start, what activities keep them sane (Pilates!), and how to balance work and life. Watch it to feel inspired by these women and how they pushed through the glass ceiling.